The aim of the present study is to identify any image findings on chest HRCT related to secondhand smoking (SHS).

Fourty-six candidates (12 men, 34 women, median age 52 years) were retrospectively recruited for the study. None of them have ever actively smoked but were all passively exposed on a daily basis to tobacco smoke (28 due to partner smoking, 18 due to exposure at their work environment). Patients with active bronchial asthma, other chronic lung or cardiac disease, recent respiratory tract infection, thromboembolic lung disease or known exposure to silica or other dusts were excluded. Fourteen candidates were asymptomatic, while the remaining 32 reported...

All 46 patients showed BWT, involving segmental and subsegmental bronchi of the middle and lower lung fields. Among them those 32 who reported dry coughing episodes showed grade 2 BWT and air trapping areas on expiration of grade 1. The remaining 14 patients showed BWT of grade 1 but without air trapping on expiration, while 8 had also some mild cylindrical bronchiectasis. A significant correlation was found between symptomatic patients and grade 2 BWT (r2=0.3321,p=0.0052) as well as symptomatic patients and the presence of air...

-Bronchial wall thickening (BWT) seems to be the dominant HRCT finding in secondhand smoking (SHS) individuals. -Symptomatic cases may be related to more severe BWT as well as air trapping areas on expiration.

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Efstathios E. Detorakis, MD, PhD Consultant radiologists Affidea Diagnostic center 45 Eleftherias Sq. 71201 Heraklion Crete, Greece